The present disclosure relates generally to vehicles and, more specifically, to reinforcement of vehicle doors. In particular, it relates to reinforcement of the striker element which is a component of the door locking mechanism.
It is known to provide a vehicle with a body having a door opening. It is also known to provide a door pivotally or slidably connected to the body to open and close the door opening. A door can be pivotally mounted on hinges or slidably mounted on tracks. In either embodiment, the door is equipped with a latch mechanism that mates with a striker element mounted to a pillar on the vehicle body.
It is further known that vehicles may have imposition of external side loads during operation. A striker element is one of the main items keeping a door mated to the automotive frame. The pillar carries the striker, which engages the latch mechanism carried by the door to secure the door in a closed orientation with respect to the automotive frame. The latch and striker are designed to work together to secure the door against the pillar, and prevent the door from inadvertently opening in the event of a crash. Since the striker is set and adjusted from the door opening, attaching the striker to the door opening panel or to the body side panel may not provide sufficient strength to manage the loads required during the side impact or pull-out tests. Reinforcement may be required to allow the striker and the striker reinforcement to distribute the load over a greater area. A typical striker reinforcement is a plate attached to the side of the pillar.
To reduce the likelihood of ejection through door openings by keeping vehicle doors closed in crashes, it is desirable that the vehicle's side door, while in the fully latched position, shall not separate from the vehicle when a total force of 18,000 N is applied along the vehicles transverse axis. The striker stiffener reinforcement plate of the present disclosure advantageously helps achieve these standards.